Every year Rochester’s City Newspaper publishes their Annual Manual, a guide that seeks to compile all that’s great about the Flower City into a single digest. This year, rather than go after the big attractions, they concentrated on aspects of life here that might not have the marquee value of the Eastman Theater or the Memorial Art Gallery, but nevertheless contribute in a big way to Rochester’s unique appeal.

We’re happy to announce that the Rochester Falconcam got some love in the Local Bloggers section. Writer Kate Antonides penned a nice summary of the Falconcam and our two blogs, Imprints and FalconWatch. Click the link above to read her article, then take a little time to explore the rest of the 2011 Annual Manual.

Just in time for the wearin’ of the green!

Our happy excited watchers– Both online and in person in downtown Rochester– delivered the news everyone has been waiting to hear. It seems Archer decided that the city’s St Patrick’s Day parade was the perfect time to fly back home, but we didn’t get our first pictures of him and his identifying leg bands (not to mention that telltale white feather tip on his right wing) until shortly after 2PM.

He and Beauty wasted no time and got right down to the business at hand, renewing their pair bond through some ritual bowing and sharing of food. Watcher Carol P reported seeing two falcons eating on the Kodak tower yesterday morning. Since then, both have been showing up at the Times Square nest box. They were also observed flying together near the Times Square building. All of these are typical signs of courtship that we’d expect to see in a pair of peregrines getting ready for a new season.

You can join in the virtual falcon watch yourself with the Rochester Falconcam’s five cameras at Times Square. Catch all the action live on our streaming video page, or even take control of our famous PanCam for a personalized falcon watching experience!

What of the tiercel who’s been keeping Beauty company since the year began? Our local watchers dubbed him “Mr. T”. He paid a visit to the nest box as recently as Friday afternoon on the 11^th. Our watchers will keep a close eye on things downtown, just in case Archer and the “new guy” decide to mix it up. There’s another Peregrine a few miles north of the Times Square at one of the buildings in Kodak Park. She’s been without a mate all year, so if Mr. T wants to head toward the lake he might find a willing partner there. That would be a win-win for Peregrines in Rochester.

Archer’s arrival comes about a week earlier than his 2010 debut in Rochester. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but it will be interesting to see how his arrival time compares from year to year– assuming he continues coming back. One thing you can be sure of, is that we’ll be keeping our eyes glued to the skies in Rochester now that Mariah and Kaver’s grandson is back in town!